Chapter 310 – Children Are Difficult

I didn't stay long after the dessert, or at all, really. Mother and such wanted to meet with my wives for a bit. And I really want to spend some time with my kids before I have to deal with whatever tomorrow forces me to go through.

What is Elora going to force me to do in those negotiations? I don't care to have any of those fuckers in my marriage, yet the Queen seemed to be saying they would be. I guess I'll count on Azula De the fucking pet to make sure they understand that I don't care for them at all and they aren't worth anything to me. I can let them just run around and fight Nature.

Sarania gives me an odd smile when I walk into the nursery. Irlo is staring down at Anza and her golden scales. A cute kid who leaves no doubt about my royal heritage, if Zarzi wasn't enough to prove I'm a Royal dragon.

Irlo is on her tippy toes, looking down into the crib, her tail resting along the ground.

Shit.

"Getting to know your sisters and brother?" I ask.

Irlo gets down and comes running over to me, grabbing my leg. I feel her sobbing as I rub her back.

"What's wrong?" I ask, picking Irlo up. "I'm sorry if your siblings are all ignoring you. They should just be sleeping right now, baby. I'm happy to see you again. Our first meeting was too short."

"I'm not a dragon," Irlo says. "I don't feel you or my sisters or my brother or the kids growing in the bellies. I'm not a dragon!"

"Oh, baby," I say. What am I supposed to say to that? Why does it matter that she isn't a dragon? "You're the big sister. You were looking at your little sister. But you see your little brother over in the corner, right?"

"Yes."

"Men have it strange and dangerous in this world. He'll need some help to keep him safe, and you'll be the one who's old enough to help him. Then you have Nymora over there. She isn't a dragon either. She is a succubus, and they struggle in this world. Sarania, my servant, has been working hard just to have a single kid. And Tirlo's father isn't going to be... Her father is in a hard place, so she'll need many others to show her love and care. Then you have your two sisters over here. They are Goddesses. Do you know about the Goddesses?"

"Yes."

"These two are the real troublemakers of my children. I have no idea what they will do, but even the dragons won't be as strong as them. I'm pretty sure they are just sticking around to have some fun with all of you. Each of them is different, and I'm sure I'm going to have a lot of different kinds of all the races. I've met the Goddess of Dragons, and she said she liked me, your Daddy. So I think she would be fine with you calling yourself a fierce dragon if you work hard and tackle the challenges you face head-on. Of course, I'm not even a dragon. I'm a dragonkin. We all just love to drop the 'kin' part to make it sound better. Even catkin, like Mai. You've met Mai, right?"

"Yes," Irlo says, luckily calming down. I don't know how my silly words helped. Probably just as a distraction. "She's nice."

"Yes, she is a sweet girl. I'm sure she'll have a little kitty of a sister for you. You have a lot of different sisters, and they are all my children. I will love them, just as I love you. Their race isn't the important part. I care about how they treat others and how they act. I see you have the energy to work through anything that gets thrown at you. Being a dragon isn't the important part. It's working hard. Can you work hard for Daddy?"

"Yes," Irlo says. "Can I really be strong?"

"Yes, Goddesses do decide your direct strength with mana, but that isn't everything. My Mother and her wives didn't have much mana and are some of the strongest women I know. They may not be able to kill armies, but they can handle a lot of problems," I say. Destruction starts to cry to my right. What does she want? The Goddesses rarely ever cry; they seem more interested in just watching their sisters. "Shall we go see what your sister wants?" Irlo just nods.

Destruction giggles when she sees us. The Goddesses are growing faster than Tirlo and Nymora, already easily clapping for her big sister to join her. Her name is a bit scary, but I doubt she would hurt someone I love. She has marked me as some ancient-style Champion, too.

"Destruction. You wouldn't hurt your sisters, right?" I ask. I only get some clapping and laughing in response. Why can't Goddesses force themselves through the baby stage for a few minutes? "Do you want to get close to your sister, Irlo?" This has to be a terrible parenting method, but I don't know. My daughter is a damn Goddess! How am I supposed to know how to treat them?

"Can I?"

"Sure. Just be gentle. She may be a Goddess, but she is still a baby."

"I can be gentle."

"I know, I just want to be careful," I say. I carefully put Irlo down in the crib and hope I didn't just fuck this up. Destruction, please don't destroy your sister.

Goddess damnit! I should've fucking known these bitches would fuck me over yet again. A bright light blocks Irlo and Destruction from me for a few long minutes, but at least I don't hear a scream of pain, and Irlo is still whole in the crib when the light finally dissipates.

"Daddy," Irlo says, turning to look at me, the tears threatening to come back. "What happened? Things look weird now."

"I don't know," I say. Why do her eyes have the mushroom things in them now? What happened to her irises? "Do you feel ok?" I quickly pick her up. Destruction just looks at me with a small smile, clapping like babies do.

This better not be how they always behave. You're a damn goddess, not a baby, Destruction.

Irlo is surprisingly calm about whatever this is.

"Things look weird, Daddy. What is going on?" Irlo repeats, starting to cry again.

Fuck, I can't do shit right! Why did I trust a baby Goddess not to hurt someone? "I think Destruction just marked you. You can still see, right? Just looks strange?" I ask. That isn't fucking calming, dumbass. What child would be calmed down by 'you can still see'? The worst thing is that Sarania looks equally confused.

"Now, this is fun," Nanoka says. "Can I hold Irlo? I promise I won't hurt her. But this Goddess made a dangerous child."

"Um, sure," I say. "She's going to be fine, right?" I should be able to do better, but Nanoka has had kids. She should know how to calm them down better. And I could use some good news.

The old Kitsune takes Irlo from me, wrapping one of her tails around little Irlo.

"Irlo will be fine," Nanoka says. "Pick up Destruction for me. I think we should ask a Goddess about this, one who can actually talk to us, or to you, really. I don't think she'll talk to me. Goddesses can be picky about who they talk to, but I think they'll love talking to you, Irlo. Don't worry, we'll have all the answers soon. Just don't reach for any mana, ok? Everything is going to be alright. I promise. I think Destruction just wanted to help her big sister out."

"Ok," Irlo says, hugging the soft tail Nanoka offered.

"Ok," I say. How did Nanoka get here so fast? Does that mean the Queen knows something happened to Irlo? Whatever. She calmed me and Irlo down. So I just pick up Destruction, as she asked. I barely have her in my arms when the Temple of Fertility appears around me.

"Irlo, can you go with Daddy? You three should go sit up front and pray to Fertility so we can figure out what exactly Destruction has done."

"Ok," Irlo says. Nanoka slowly sets her down and nudges Irlo and me forward.

"Come on, Irlo," I say. "Fertility has been kind to me, and Destruction wouldn't hurt you."

We've only taken a single step before I'm in Fertility's true Temple. Destruction is missing.

"Well, I don't know what I expected," Fertility says. "Try to keep those two troublemakers away from your children until they can speak. They are all learning how to use their powers and don't fully know what they are doing."

"Is Irlo hurt?"

"Oh, no. Irlo is fine. She's a Champion now. The Champion of Destruction. A name no parent wants for their children. They're destructive enough without having a Goddess empower their ability to destroy everything in their path."

Well, the Queen shouldn't kill me for making her daughter a Champion, right? "Oh, ok. Well, that is good. I'm glad Destruction wants to help her sister. Can Irlo see her other sister while we are here?"

"Irlo, would you like to meet another sister of yours?" Fertility asks.

"Yes! Daddy, I'm a Champion like you now!"

"Yes, you are dear. You should thank Fertility for helping us figure out what is going on and letting you see your sister."

"Thanks, Goddess!" Irlo says, giving a cute little curtsey. Should I have been doing that this entire time?

"Ready to meet the Goddess of Contracts?" I ask.

"Yes!" Irlo says, completing forgetting about the little scare we just had. A little crib with a baby appears before us, and Irlo goes running as Fertility gives me a side hug. Irlo does something to get Contract laughing as Fertility works to calm me down the rest of the way.

I can't believe I did that. Goddesses have only been blessing me for a short few months. So why would I trust a baby so easily?

'I got a promise from Destruction. Contract has better control over her powers than Destruction does, living in the divine realm and all, and Contract can easily hold a weak Goddess like Destruction to her promises. You have what you needed. It wasn't stupid, my Champion. Irlo is happy and healthy and has a great future ahead of her. But she'll need a lot of support to make sure she doesn't destroy herself. Destruction will take everything if left unchallenged. Can you feel our kid? It feels good to be happy about pregnancies. Thank you, my Champion. I'm sorry I can't help you more, making you marry women you don't like. But they will be useful for you, even if they prove they have no love for you.'

"I guess. Thank you for calming me down," I say. "I'm really just jumping into this whole parenting thing."

Luck would make for a dangerous Champion as well. A kid who always gets lucky in whatever they do... What happens when luck eventually isn't enough? It definitely wasn't enough for me. Or maybe I just didn't have any luck.